


Flicker

by itswheremydemonshide10



Category: Emmerdale, Roblivion - Fandom, robron
Genre: Alcohol, Gen, M/M, Post-Break Up, a bit of angst, but mostly hopeful i think?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-21
Updated: 2017-07-21
Packaged: 2018-12-05 03:29:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11569383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itswheremydemonshide10/pseuds/itswheremydemonshide10
Summary: The second most important reunion. Robert x Liv.





	Flicker

Robert is sitting on a bench down by the stream, trying to avoid Diane’s chirpy attempts at being encouraging, and swigging from a half-empty bottle of whiskey, when he hears her.

“Well you look like a bag of shit.”

He snorts, because he knows she’s not wrong. He hasn’t showered today, he’s wearing a baggy pair of jeans and a jumper he hasn’t worn in years, and he hasn’t styled his hair in over a week.

“You’ve always had a way with words Liv.” Robert tells her as she sits down on the bench with him, neither of them looking at each other.

“I didn’t know you were back.” Robert says after a moment, carefully tip-toeing around the real issues.

“Got back last night. Good job too, cause clearly someone needs to kick you up the backside.” Liv replies, her eyes still fixed on the water, her fingers fidgeting in her lap.

“Ya might as well, everyone else is enjoying sticking the boot in. Go ahead, you can’t make me feel worse than I already do.” Robert retorts flatly, before taking another swig from his bottle.

He’s expecting her to start shouting at any minute, and he wouldn’t blame her, because Aaron isn’t the only person he’s let down. The Mill was supposed to be a new start for her, with stability and a proper family, and he’d destroyed that for her as well as for himself and Aaron.

“That’s not what I meant.” She says quietly.

“What did you mean then?” Robert asks, confused.

She turns to face him now, face fierce and determined.

“I wanted to know how you were planning to fix this… cause trust me, sitting here moping and feeling sorry for yourself i’nt the way to do it.”

“Liv… don’t you think that if I thought I had a chance of fixing things, I would? But Aaron doesn’t want me to anymore. He’s given up on us, and I don’t blame him.”

“Of course he’s gonna say that” Liv snaps “He’s angry and hurt! But he also keeps wearing that t-shirt of yours to bed you know, the Star Wars one?  And he keeps your guys’ wedding picture in his wallet, and keeps asking Vic about how you are! Does that sound like someone who’s given up to you?”

Robert doesn’t know how to respond to that. He just watches Liv as she sighs, seemingly deflating, as her anger and frustration leak away.

“I weren’t supposed to tell you that.” Liv says, but there’s the tiniest hint of a mischievous smirk pulling at her mouth, and it makes Robert smile slightly too, something he hasn’t done in weeks.

“Come on, it’s getting cold.” Robert tells her, walking over to a nearby bin and dumping the whiskey bottle in it. “I’ll walk you back.”

It isn’t until they reach the main street through the village that either of them speaks again, and it’s Liv who breaks the silence.

“Look, what I said before… I didn’t tell you all that so you’d go off and do something daft and over-the-top to try and win him back…”

“I’m pretty sure if I did then Aaron would kill me.” Robert snorts.

“We’ve all made mistakes, just… sort yourself out and then, you know, give ‘im time” Liv says, her voice surprisingly soft, for the briefest of moments, before snapping back into her usual snark. “And maybe go back to showering regularly, no one finds the hobo look attractive!”

Liv laughs as she dodges out of the way of Robert’s retaliatory elbow nudge, and it feels like a tension has lifted between them.

Aaron is outside the Mill when they reach it, and Robert has to resist the urge to hide, hyper-aware now of his appearance in a way he hadn’t given a damn about that morning when he’d gotten dressed.

“Where ‘ave you been, you were supposed to back ages ago! I was worried.” Aaron says, his eyes flickering between the two of them in confusion.

“Sorry, my fault” Robert says, before the two siblings can start bickering about curfews. “I saw Liv down by the bridge and we… got chatting.”

“Oh” is all Aaron says, expression indecipherable, but he’s meeting Robert’s eyes for the first time in a long while, so Robert counts that as a victory.

“M’here now aren’t I?” Liv says loudly, cutting through the atmosphere with her blasé attitude, and causing Aaron to shake his head, like he’s already forgotten what they were discussing.

“Right… well, get inside now then. It’s getting late.”

“I’ll be off too” Robert says quickly. “I’ll see ya later.” He adds, nodding at Liv specifically.

“Yeah, alright.” She replies with a smile, causing the puzzled crease around Aaron’s forehead to deepen.

As Robert walks back down the road, hands in his pocket, he can’t resist a final glance back towards the Mill. Aaron is steering Liv back towards the house, but as he fiddles with his phone, Liv looks back over her shoulder too. Even from a distance Robert sees it flicker in her eyes, the same feeling that’s currently unfurling warm and comforting in his chest.

Hope.


End file.
